Must Read WHO acknowledges 'evidence emerging' of airborne spread of COVID-19

[webfact]

WHO acknowledges 'evidence emerging' of airborne spread of COVID-19

 

A logo is pictured on the headquarters of the World Health Orgnaization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

 

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization on Tuesday acknowledged "evidence emerging" of the airborne spread of the novel coronavirus, after a group of scientists urged the global body to update its guidance on how the respiratory disease passes between people.

 

"We have been talking about the possibility of airborne transmission and aerosol transmission as one of the modes of transmission of COVID-19," Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead on the COVID-19 pandemic at the WHO, told a news briefing.

 

The WHO has previously said the virus that causes the COVID-19 respiratory disease spreads primarily through small droplets expelled from the nose and mouth of an infected person that quickly sink to the ground.

 

The World Health Organization is studying "emerging" evidence that the novel coronavirus may be spread through the air more easily than previously believed. Meanwhile, the NIH's Dr. Anthony Fauci says it would follow the example from a similar deadly disease: SARS. Matthew Larotonda reports.

 

But in an open letter to the Geneva-based agency, published on Monday in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal, 239 scientists in 32 countries outlined evidence that they say shows floating virus particles can infect people who breathe them in.

 

Because those smaller exhaled particles can linger in the air, the scientists in the group had been urging WHO to update its guidance.

 

"We wanted them to acknowledge the evidence," said Jose Jimenez, a chemist at the University of Colorado who signed the paper.

 

"This is definitely not an attack on the WHO. It's a scientific debate, but we felt we needed to go public because they were refusing to hear the evidence after many conversations with them," he said in a telephone interview.

 

Speaking at Tuesday's briefing in Geneva, Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHO's technical lead for infection prevention and control, said there was evidence emerging of airborne transmission of the coronavirus, but that it was not definitive.

 

The World Health Organization says there is "emerging evidence" that the novel coronavirus may be spread through the air, after hundreds of scientists urged the agency in an open letter to update its guidance on transmission.

 

"...The possibility of airborne transmission in public settings - especially in very specific conditions, crowded, closed, poorly ventilated settings that have been described, cannot be ruled out," she said.

 

"However, the evidence needs to be gathered and interpreted, and we continue to support this."

 

Jimenez said historically, there has been a fierce opposition in the medical profession to the notion of aerosol transmission, and the bar for proof has been set very high. A key concern has been a fear of panic.

 

"If people hear airborne, healthcare workers will refuse to go to the hospital," he said. Or people will buy up all the highly protective N95 respirator masks, "and there will be none left for developing countries."

 

Jimenez said the WHO panel assessing the evidence on airborne transmission was not scientifically diverse, and lacked representation from experts in aerosol transmission.

 

Any change in the WHO's assessment of risk of transmission could affect its current advice on keeping 1-metre (3.3 feet) of physical distancing. Governments, which rely on the agency for guidance policy, may also have to adjust public health measures aimed at curbing the spread of the virus.

 

Van Kerkhove said the WHO would publish a scientific brief summarising the state of knowledge on modes of transmission of the virus in the coming days.

 

"A comprehensive package of interventions is required to be able to stop transmission," she said.

 

"This includes not only physical distancing, it includes the use of masks where appropriate in certain settings, specifically where you can't do physical distancing and especially for healthcare workers."

 

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi, Kate Kelland and Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Alex Richardson and Marguerita Choy)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-07-08

 

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[metisdead]

Some troll posts have been removed. 

[nobodysfriend]

Airborne transmission means that you can become infected by Covid by just talking to somebody .

Wearing a mask does not really protect you a lot , but it helps to protect the others ...

 

[Oldie]

Perhaps it is time to get rid of this WHO. It is awful to see how many people there get paid for nothing. 

[Bender Rodriguez]

3 hours ago, tiocfaidh said:

Not if you died from it like two of my friends

those friends were young, in good health, no chronic diseases, eat healthy, did not smoke nor drink alcohol and did not take 1,2,3,5,10 MD prescribed pills ?

[twocatsmac]

1 hour ago, Oldie said:

Perhaps it is time to get rid of this WHO. It is awful to see how many people there get paid for nothing. 

Agreed, it’s becoming harder to look to them for guidance.

I’ve seen educational videos demonstrating the airborne effect many weeks/months ago, maybe they’re just seeing them now. 

[robblok]

If this is true then opening pubs is a recipe for disaster. 

[rabas]

15 minutes ago, twocatsmac said:

Agreed, it’s becoming harder to look to them for guidance.

I’ve seen educational videos demonstrating the airborne effect many weeks/months ago, maybe they’re just seeing them now. 

The true airborne nature of SARS, and hence nCoV-SARS-2, was demonstrated and published in 2005 based on research studies in a Canadian hospital.  Basically, the virus just goes everywhere. As SARS experts, the Chinese would have known this from day 1. 

 

The Journel of Infectious dieases May 2005

 

Again, the Chinese/WHO acknowledge something the day the rest of the world already knows. Same as with the genome which was already sequenced in Thailand when the CCP released it. 

 

Xi the problem?
 

[Mikeasq60]

The US finally pulled out of the corrupt WHO. Why is Thailand still listening to what they say? The guy whose the head of it is a Marxist Communist who kills his own people. Oh, by the way this guy isnt a medical doctor he paid for that position. Is that who Thailand supports?

[rabas]

Who knew?

 

April 3, 2020, USA, Medical Express.

 

Coronavirus may spread through normal breathing: US scientists

[whaleboneman]

2 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

Airborne transmission means that you can become infected by Covid by just talking to somebody .

Wearing a mask does not really protect you a lot , but it helps to protect the others ...

 

Or even not talking to somebody.

[whaleboneman]

2 hours ago, Oldie said:

Perhaps it is time to get rid of this WHO. It is awful to see how many people there get paid for nothing. 

In the middle of a pandemic??? I think you have been listening to an orange clown.

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

Airborne transmission means that you can become infected by Covid by just talking to somebody .

Wearing a mask does not really protect you a lot , but it helps to protect the others ...

 

 

Actually talking is a key way to spread droplets. Loud talking or shouting, even worse.

[welovesundaysatspace]

1 hour ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

those friends were young, in good health, no chronic diseases, eat healthy, did not smoke nor drink alcohol and did not take 1,2,3,5,10 MD prescribed pills ?

The new normal: only the lives of healthy young studs matter. 

[NanLaew]

57 minutes ago, Mikeasq60 said:

The guy whose the head of it is a Marxist Communist who kills his own people.

Citation needed.

 

57 minutes ago, Mikeasq60 said:

Oh, by the way this guy isnt a medical doctor he paid for that position.

Ditto.

[Baerboxer]

39 minutes ago, whaleboneman said:

In the middle of a pandemic??? I think you have been listening to an orange clown.

 

What use has WHO been so far?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The WHO has not distinguished themselves in the current pandemic for providing accurate, consistent public health information and guidance. But then neither has the U.S. CDC under Trump.

 

Despite there being a lot of dedicated and hard-working scientists and public health researchers out there, in this go-around, the major GOVERNMENT public health agencies that people would normally turn to have in large part been pathetic failures.

 

I've been reading about aerosolized transmission of the virus for months in various news reports and scientific publications.... And just now, the WHO thinks it might just be something worth their attention?

 

[Syduan]

1 hour ago, twocatsmac said:

Agreed, it’s becoming harder to look to them for guidance.

I’ve seen educational videos demonstrating the airborne effect many weeks/months ago, maybe they’re just seeing them now. 

 

[Oldie]

4 hours ago, twocatsmac said:

Agreed, it’s becoming harder to look to them for guidance.

I’ve seen educational videos demonstrating the airborne effect many weeks/months ago, maybe they’re just seeing them now. 

At the beginning they said no masks are needed. Now they discover that for instance if someone sneezed it might be a danger. I think everyone with a normal brain understood this long time ago. Overdue to kick them out AND make them responsible for their actions. 

[bluedoc]

The WHO, Chinese run, headed up by a man who takes back handlers from China. Nothing is believable from that lot just the same as what comes out of China

 

[DB58]

4 hours ago, robblok said:

If this is true then opening pubs is a recipe for disaster. 

I think that we already have a disaster, this just means we’ve been flying blind... seems to me this bug has shone that we can’t stop it, slow it, yes. I am not saying this is anyone’s fault, we’re dealing with a force of nature. Experts take their best guess (And call it “science”) and politicians enacted rules that create a second disaster (the economy). As for me, open the pub, I could use a drink and socializing. Dying of covid is better than cancer, in my opinion... but if you disagree that’s ok with me, I will respect your personal space.

[Traubert]

15 minutes ago, bluedoc said:

The WHO, Chinese run, headed up by a man who takes back handlers from China. Nothing is believable from that lot just the same as what comes out of China

 

Quantum communications?

[tribalfusion001]

4 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

Actually talking is a key way to spread droplets. Loud talking or shouting, even worse.

Maybe everybody should not talk or breathe anymore, problem solved. No singing, no shouting, lips sealed together.

[johnpetersen]

5 hours ago, rabas said:

Who knew?

 

April 3, 2020, USA, Medical Express.

 

Coronavirus may spread through normal breathing: US scientists

From that article:

"But if the virus can be suspended in the ultrafine mist we expel when we exhale, in other words an aerosol, it becomes much harder to prevent its spread, which in turn is an argument in favor of everyone covering their faces."

[brain150]

I just trust myself to know what is good for me ... like many generations before me !

 

I might start to believe anything these clowns say when I find real scientific evidence !

Up to now there is a lot of BS but no real science about this whole FAKEdemic !!!

... somebody may start with isolating the virus ! [did not happen yet and is usually step 1 in the process]

[Guderian]

From The Economist magazine this week:

 

The virus likes enclosed, crowded spaces where people shout or talk loudly. 

 

Reminds you of anywhere?